Elements of Marketing - Back to Basics Part #2

The good, bad and ugly of this one is that, Branding, is the area of marketing that everyone has an opinion on, but very few actually understand the implications of. Branding requires buy in from all departments, not just the marketing department. so after you have done part 1 (Elements of Marketing - Back to Basics Part #1), you can them move on to...

Brand Marketing

Most people associate a brand with their logo. Slap a logo on your product and your done, branded! Well, unfortunately even if you sell something as mundane as water, you still need to do better than that. Branding is about providing a consistent representation of your product/service in every (yes, EVERY) aspect of your business. The reason that people think of a logo as so important is that it is that recognisable "Mark" that the customer associates the experience to. But the brand is just as much your logo as it is the language you use when on the phone, or the mismatched stack of pens and paperclips on the reception desk.

How to...

Copy those that do it best. Be absolutely anal about what your brand represents. Really, it should take a decisive person about 2 hours to come up with how they want a customer to feel/react/be when they purchase a product from you. Now that you have your proposed brand experience, all you need to do now is integrate that into every aspect of your business. This means when you are talking to your graphic designer, you give them the same perception as you do when you are talking to your staff, or even... your customers. That is right, your Manager, receptionist and even suppliers are brand advocates as much as your product and your logo.

Example:

Lets take a retail store that says that they are the friendliest store in town. They have created a beautiful store with all the right Feng Shui, have spent thousands on marketing their brand and personality, and, have even given all the information and training to their staff. So far so good. But they are still a business and they need to achieve sales, so they structure the pay of the store manager based on sales performance. you can guess the rest. the manager drives the store associates, and they are interested in one thing, the $$$.

Now you can see the implications of branding and how it needs to be across every (again, Yes, EVERY) aspect of the business. The key takeaway is that: every communication and decision from every team member must be consistent and in alignment with the brand.